Thousands of people are taking part in three days of remembrance ceremonies to mark nine years since the Beslan school siege in north Ossetia – Russia’s deadliest terrorist attack.

Local people are expected to flock to the site of the tragedy to
light candles, leave toys and flowers and pay tribute to the
victims of the attack, which left 334 people dead, 318 of them
hostages, including 186 children. Funeral music will be played at
the school's gym, which was turned into a memorial site after the
attack.

Over a thousand people were taken hostage in Beslan’s Secondary
School No. 1 on September 1, 2004, the first day back at school
after summer vacation. The hostages were held at gunpoint and
denied water, food or medical help for three days.

On September 3, the siege came to an end after terrorists,
calling for a separate Chechnya, detonated explosives in the gym
and security forces intervened to free the hostages. As well as
the dead, the siege left 810 people were wounded. Seventeen
children lost both parents. The cemetery where the victims of the
siege are buried is described locally as the “Town of Little
Angels.”

Twins Soslan and Larisa were four years old at the time of the
siege. Although they had not started school, like many people in
Beslan they were in the school for the traditional “Knowledge
Day” celebrations.

"There was a shower room over there. We went there through
lines of gunmen. One of the terrorists was here. And when we left
the room, he fired at some of us," Larisa said in RT's
documentary “Town of Little Angels.”

"At first I thought it was a sound of bursting balloons or
something. But then I got really scared when I saw people
smashing windows," said another former hostage, school
student Chermen Bugulov.

Natalia Satsaeva, also a hostage, could hardly hold back her
tears as she recalled the tragic events. "We were crowded
into the gym as if we were cattle meant for the slaughterhouse.
We sat wherever we could, some on the floor, others on benches.
Senior pupils were told to suspend tripwires from the ceiling.
Only then did I realize what was going on..."

The siege began after a group of more than 30 terrorists stormed
the school, where hundreds of pupils with flowers were attending
the traditional ceremony marking the beginning of the school year
with their parents.

A total of 1,128 people were held as hostages in the gym, which
the terrorists mined with explosives. Despite negotiations with
the terrorists, the hostages were denied medical attention, food
and water.

Chechen separatist leader Shamil Basayev claimed responsibility
for the attack. The terrorists reportedly demanded that Russia’s
army leave Chechnya and that the republic be granted
independence.

On the afternoon of the third day of the siege, September 3,
several blasts shook the school, and a fire broke out. Many of
the hostages were shot as they rushed out of the gym. Russia's
security forces then began an assault on the besieged school.
Twenty-seven terrorists were killed, on top of four who had been
killed earlier. The only terrorist captured alive, Nur-Pashi
Kulayev, was later sentenced to life in prison.